Invasion of the Blacks and Browns
The County where I reside (Charles County, Maryland) has largely been a homogenous population largely composed of individuals of European descent. Over time, the people in this area became used to their way of life, used to seeing an image mirroring themselves when they went into a store, went shopping, entered a court of law, or patronized other places of business...even as they walked outside of their house in the morning to get the paper and waved to the next-door neighbor.
Well, times are a-changin'. Those same people may walk outside in the morning and see a Black or Brown face staring at them across the driveway. And, in some of the Mom and Pop shops where everybody knows everybody there are some new faces that don't resemble the ones who are behind the counter, or sitting at their customary table in the corner.
For some, change is difficult. It evokes a fear that the way of life that has been in place for years may one day no longer exist. There is evidence that the fear of change has permeated the area where I live because recent news outlets such as The Washington Post repeatedly reported, with alarming statistics, that African-American schoolchildren are now the majority in Charles County.
Stop the presses! The fact that this story has been published in at least three separate editions of The Post is a clear indicator of just how highly this particular news item is valued. The article poses such education-related questions as: will test scores now plummet with Black students being in the majority? But it also raises more questions than it asks and hints at more than it blatantly states. For example, the article states that: "Black enrollment in Charles grew by about 700 students this year, and white enrollment decreased by about the same number." By itself, this statistic hints at the Black migration pattern and the "White flight" that is also occurring in this historically rural County.
As I read the article, I could almost sense the growing panic of my European neighbors, wondering if this area would become overrun with the horror-stories they hear about on the news every night in places like D.C. and Prince George's County. It was almost as if I could hear the laments over the potential loss of the idyllic Utopian society that they had spent years building, and the simultaneous locking of doors to keep out the crime that more Blacks undoubtedly will bring to these safe suburbs.
Some might say that I am overreacting, that people aren't really interpeting this bit of news in this manner. Well, then the burning question is: why is this such big news? Why run it over and over again? There must be interest. There must be concern. There must be a sense of "they've taken over our schools, now what's next?!" There is a need to know that this trend is happening and that it's happening fast (According to The Post's analysis of recent Census data, Charles County is "the fastest-growing black population of any large jurisdiction in the nation except the Atlanta suburbs.)
For some, it is a slight comfort to know that the Blacks who are migrating to Charles County are people of means (translation: law-abiding, intelligent, affluent people of color who probably don't like hip-hop/rap music -- or don't play it loud). See, it's not so bad after all. And test scores haven't plummeted (yet) and in some areas, it has improved (of course, that's only because we've anticipated the change in demographics and made sure that we are helping these little Black kids to come up to the learning levels of their White counterparts).
Forgive my dripping sarcasm here, but this really concerns me. News is the appearance of gang signs and symbols. News is the racist graffiti that has popped up recently, and the spraypainting of mailboxes in neighborhoods with racial slurs. News is the lack of Black teachers in our school systems, the utter lack of diversity in the upper ranks of several institutions within this County. The trend of Black people moving in is not news. It is simply that we are finally becoming more diverse and that's a good thing.
Well, times are a-changin'. Those same people may walk outside in the morning and see a Black or Brown face staring at them across the driveway. And, in some of the Mom and Pop shops where everybody knows everybody there are some new faces that don't resemble the ones who are behind the counter, or sitting at their customary table in the corner.
For some, change is difficult. It evokes a fear that the way of life that has been in place for years may one day no longer exist. There is evidence that the fear of change has permeated the area where I live because recent news outlets such as The Washington Post repeatedly reported, with alarming statistics, that African-American schoolchildren are now the majority in Charles County.
Stop the presses! The fact that this story has been published in at least three separate editions of The Post is a clear indicator of just how highly this particular news item is valued. The article poses such education-related questions as: will test scores now plummet with Black students being in the majority? But it also raises more questions than it asks and hints at more than it blatantly states. For example, the article states that: "Black enrollment in Charles grew by about 700 students this year, and white enrollment decreased by about the same number." By itself, this statistic hints at the Black migration pattern and the "White flight" that is also occurring in this historically rural County.
As I read the article, I could almost sense the growing panic of my European neighbors, wondering if this area would become overrun with the horror-stories they hear about on the news every night in places like D.C. and Prince George's County. It was almost as if I could hear the laments over the potential loss of the idyllic Utopian society that they had spent years building, and the simultaneous locking of doors to keep out the crime that more Blacks undoubtedly will bring to these safe suburbs.
Some might say that I am overreacting, that people aren't really interpeting this bit of news in this manner. Well, then the burning question is: why is this such big news? Why run it over and over again? There must be interest. There must be concern. There must be a sense of "they've taken over our schools, now what's next?!" There is a need to know that this trend is happening and that it's happening fast (According to The Post's analysis of recent Census data, Charles County is "the fastest-growing black population of any large jurisdiction in the nation except the Atlanta suburbs.)
For some, it is a slight comfort to know that the Blacks who are migrating to Charles County are people of means (translation: law-abiding, intelligent, affluent people of color who probably don't like hip-hop/rap music -- or don't play it loud). See, it's not so bad after all. And test scores haven't plummeted (yet) and in some areas, it has improved (of course, that's only because we've anticipated the change in demographics and made sure that we are helping these little Black kids to come up to the learning levels of their White counterparts).
Forgive my dripping sarcasm here, but this really concerns me. News is the appearance of gang signs and symbols. News is the racist graffiti that has popped up recently, and the spraypainting of mailboxes in neighborhoods with racial slurs. News is the lack of Black teachers in our school systems, the utter lack of diversity in the upper ranks of several institutions within this County. The trend of Black people moving in is not news. It is simply that we are finally becoming more diverse and that's a good thing.
posted by Butterfly87 | 9:47 PM
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